


now the ashes glow

by spyglass



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Yuletide 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 11:32:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13053162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spyglass/pseuds/spyglass
Summary: A trip to Boston in 1942 forces Lucy and Wyatt to take stock of some changes in their relationship.





	now the ashes glow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lunarknightz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarknightz/gifts).



At first, Lucy doesn’t even notice that things have started to change.

That’s not entirely true, of course. But between discovering her mother’s connection to Rittenhouse, Emma Whitmore taking out the Mothership to put Rittenhouse’s plan - whatever it is - into action, Jiya’s medical troubles, and having the chance to get Amy back dangled in front of her only to be taken away once again, Lucy is so focused on other things that awareness in her personal life takes something of a back seat.

Later, when she thinks back on it, she won’t be able to pinpoint one particular moment where they were no longer just partners and friends. Somewhere between the past and the present, the lines begin to blur into something _more_.

It’s in Boston in 1942 that this change becomes impossible to ignore.

 

xxx

 

Lucy is reading at a campus coffee shop when she gets the call. She’s been spending more time at the university in her efforts not to be at home with her mother during the times when she is not at work, and while Lucy does not miss academia, she still enjoys being around learning environments. She finds that she’s reading more now than she ever did before - one of her greatest fears, after one of her teammates being injured, is having to track Rittenhouse to an unfamiliar time or event - but as soon as she gets the call, she puts her textbook aside. Unlike several of the other students sitting at nearby tables, Lucy has never been one to cram for exams, and she isn’t about to start now. 

At Mason Industries, Agent Christopher greets them with their assignment. “Do you have any idea what Rittenhouse has planned in Boston on November 28th, 1942?”

The answer comes to Lucy immediately, and fear begins to build deep in her gut at the implications of Rittenhouse going back to that specific day. “The Cocoanut Grove fire,” she answers. She sees realization dawn on Agent Christopher’s face, but both Rufus and Wyatt continue to look at her expectantly, so she continues, “It was the second deadliest single-building fire in American history. A fire started in the basement lounge of one of Boston’s most popular nightclubs, and within fifteen minutes, almost 500 people were dead. A lot of our building code and fire safety laws came as a result of this fire, and it helped revolutionize burn care. It was one of the first widespread uses of penicillin. The advances that came from this fire have helped save tens of thousands of lives, if not more.”

“So you’re saying we may be better off if the fire happens than if it doesn’t?” Rufus observes.

“We have no way of knowing for sure. Emma could be targeting someone in particular - Cocoanut Grove was popular among athletes and politicians - or she could be trying to get an even larger crowd into the club. Estimates say there were about 1,000 people there even though the capacity was only 460. There’s no telling how much worse it would have been if even more people had been packed in. The club’s owner was eventually tried and convicted of manslaughter because of what happened.”

“Good,” Wyatt says with a resolute nod. “Let’s go get them.”

 

xxx

 

Boston of 1942 is not entirely unfamiliar to them by now. Having traveled back to World War II on multiple occasions, even their period clothes are a little more comfortable just for having been worn before. But trying to determine Emma Whitmore’s motives proves, as always, far more elusive.

With nothing else to go on, they begin at the Cocoanut Grove itself. Arriving at approximately 10 in the morning, Lucy can’t help but marvel at the one and a half story building that would - if everything went according to plan - see the deaths of 492 people by the end of the night.

Together, the three of them walk around the block, observing the building in daylight to gather as much information as possible.

“How did so many people die?” Rufus asks, frowning at boarded up windows as they make their second loop around the block.

“The owner would lock all the doors except the main entrance to prevent patrons from leaving without paying.” It’s a bitter cold November day, but the chill that runs down Lucy’s spine has nothing to do with the cold. “Many of the victims got trapped trying to escape through the main entrance when the revolving door got jammed. Others died of smoke inhalation. The fire spread so quickly that they just didn’t have a chance.”

The three of them stop walking and a look passes between them. The hardest part of their job is the moment where they know they have to let something truly awful happen, no matter their own personal feelings on the matter because if they don’t, the future could be even worse.

Lucy’s getting fairly used to people shooting at her, but she doesn’t think she’ll ever be used to _this_.

Wyatt’s eyes are soft as he declares, clear and unwavering, “This is inhumane.”

Rufus says nothing, but it’s all too clear that he agrees.

“You both know we have to protect the integrity of the timeline,” she says, willing an air of finality to her voice that she does not feel.

The problem is, the person she’s most trying to convince is herself.

 

xxx

 

After spending the day chasing down possible motives behind whatever it is Emma has planned for the Cocoanut Grove without anything to show for it, Wyatt and Lucy enter the nightclub not long after it opens for the evening and do their best to blend in with a large party of football fans celebrating a big upset from earlier that day.

The original plan had called for all three of them to enter the club as party goers, but Rufus was quick to remind them that even without Jim Crow, most northern cities were no more inclusive than their southern counterparts - they were just a little less direct about it - so instead he took the place of a member of the waitstaff who was sick that night.

The Cocoanut Grove is elaborately decorated to look like something of a tropical paradise, complete with support columns made to look like palm trees and light fixtures made to look like coconuts. The building is separated into numerous rooms, many with their own live entertainment playing, and the party Lucy and Wyatt find themselves attached to is located in one of the lounges just off the main dining room.

“I’ll go get us some drinks,” Wyatt offers, and normally she’d argue they should not be drinking on the job but she can’t see the harm in one drink in light of everything they’re facing that evening, so she agrees.

While Wyatt is at the bar, Lucy is so busy simultaneously scanning the crowded club for Emma and evaluating possible escape routes that she almost doesn’t notice when one of the other party attendees approaches her.

“Your young man is quite a looker. How long have you two been together?”

Lucy turns her head sharply to see a blonde woman of about her age reaching out to shake her hand.

“I’m Ann, by the way. My husband Tom graduated in ‘33. We were just commenting that we haven’t seen you here before.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lucy can only hope she is returning Ann’s smile. “I’m, uh, Diane. And my husband’s name is Sam. Sam Malone. He graduated in ‘35, and we, uh, just recently moved back to the area.”

Internally, Lucy groans - she has _got_ to work on being smoother when coming up with covers on the fly, or at least plan ahead better for them - but Ann doesn’t seem to notice. Ann’s husband Tom joins them, and after introductions, Ann begins chatting happily about the day’s football victory.

She can read the question in Wyatt’s expression when he returns with their drinks. “Sam,” she cuts in before he can say something to contradict her story, “meet Ann and Tom. Tom graduated in ‘33.”

“And Diane here was telling us that you graduated in ‘35,” Ann supplies helpfully.

 _“Sam and Diane,”_ Wyatt whispers teasingly in her ear as his hand comes to rest on the small of her back. It’s a light touch, but she’s suddenly very aware of it, of _him_ in ways that have nothing to do with their cover story.

She shrugs and takes a sip of her drink, but when she looks up at Wyatt, he’s grinning at her.

They both know they can’t stay here long - with no more than an hour and a half before the fire is supposed to start, they are positioned to try to track Emma as soon as she enters the club - but the little while they stand making small talk with Ann and Tom is almost a moment of respite in a day they know will only end in tragedy for so many of the people here.

The pianist begins playing, and when Ann and Tom leave them for the dance floor, Lucy finds herself surprised when Wyatt reaches his hand out to lead her there as well.

“I think we have time for one dance, _Diane_ ,” he says, and the teasing smile on his face is too much for her to turn down.

Wyatt is a surprisingly good dancer, and as she was earlier, Lucy is very aware of how it feels to have his arms around her, how it’s both familiar and exciting at the same time. They have been this close before, but this dance, this moment feels like something entirely new.

The silence that settles between them as they dance is a comfortable one, and when he pulls her in closer still, she rests her head on his shoulder and allows him to take the lookout position from her.

When he whispers “this is nice,” in her ear, she almost doesn’t hear him, but she can’t help but agree.

Too soon, the song ends and the weight of the job they’re here to do settles back over both of their shoulders.

As they make their way to the basement lounge, though, Wyatt keeps her hand firmly in his the entire way.

 

xxx

 

What happens next passes in a haze of fire and smoke. Emma starts the fire almost fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, and then it’s just a mass of panicked people trying to escape. Rufus, who stole keys from one of the managers to unlock as many of the doors as he could and isn’t supposed to meet them in the basement lounge for another ten minutes, somehow manages to find them and leads a number of people from the basement to escape. And before they know it, they’re back in the present day and sitting in their normal post-travel debrief with Agent Christopher while the Lifeboat recharges.

The next day, Lucy finds Wyatt in the break room and so focused on his tablet screen that he doesn’t even seem to notice when she comes in - or so she thinks.

“Hey,” he greets her, finally looking up from his screen to meet her eyes. “I’ve been looking at the victims list all morning to see if I can find Ann and Tom. It looks like they got out.”

She nods; she had done the same thing last night when she got home. Only 426 people had died this time thanks in large part to the doors Rufus managed to unlock, but a local politician - presumably Emma’s target - who hadn’t died before was one of the most prominent obituaries they returned to in the present day.

“I found their obituaries last night,” Lucy says. “They both lived well into their 90s and passed away about twenty years ago.”

Wyatt laughs, his eyes filled with mirth. “So long enough that they could have seen Sam and Diane again, this time on their TV.”

Lucy rolls her eyes but returns his laugh. “I’ve certainly come up with worse names for us in the past.”

Motioning for Lucy to take a seat on the sofa next to him, he winks and says, “Maybe next time you should stick with something a little closer to the truth, but as always, there’s no one else I’d rather be married to for the evening.”

She pauses at this, uncertain at first if he means it only in jest until he takes her hand once again and warmth settles over her. Lucy has been so focused on making sure things in the past happen exactly the way the history books tell her they’re supposed to that here, in the present day, she has almost forgotten that she can make her own choices.

And as she leans in closer to Wyatt, his hand warm in hers, that’s exactly what she does.


End file.
